Gopher¶

Registry name: gopher. Parity status in games_covered.md: 🥇.

Description¶

Protect carrot crops from a tunneling gopher. Move left/right and fill holes before the gopher reaches the surface; score by blocking digs and clearing threats.

Actions¶

Observations¶

Object-centric ObjectObservation fields plus HUD score:

player — farmer (visual_id = has seed, state = bonk timer, orientation = facing)
gopher — gopher (state / visual_id = action, orientation = facing; inactive when hidden underground)
duck, seed, carrots (n=3)
holes (n=18 dug hole tiles), tunnels (n=40 dug tunnel tiles)
score_player — on-screen score digits

Reward¶

Modifications¶

Registered via GopherEnvMod:

greedy_gopher
mirror_button
energy_drain
heavy_shovel
fast_seed
invisible_gopher
wind_gopher
dizzy_farmer

Recommended medal¶

🥇 Gold — single-screen ALE parity checklist addressed (player side borders, dig/hole cadence, mod + pixel-obs downscale, energy-drain score, invisible gopher on pixels, AutoDerivedConstants, faster block rendering). Intentional omission: ALE start-of-episode delay.

Known issues¶

No ALE-style start delay (accepted divergence).
Dig / hole spawn rates tuned for score feel vs ALE, not claimed bit-exact.